Sport British GP 2017 Qualifying: Lewis Hamilton storms to pole position

© Provided by BSkyB Getty Lewis Hamilton earned a standing ovation from his adoring Silverstone crowd after storming to a dominant pole position at the British GP.

Hamilton's scintillating lap was half a second better than the best efforts of his rivals and leaves the 31-year-old just one short of equalling Michael Schumacher's all-time record for the most poles in F1.

"That lap felt great and I wasn't expecting to have a gap like that," said Hamilton.

Hamilton was placed under investigation for an alleged block of Haas driver Romain Grosjean during the top-ten shootout but cleared of any wrongdoing.

Bottas on pole for Austrian Grand Prix

Finland's Valtteri Bottas kept champions Mercedes on pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday after title-chasing team mate Lewis Hamilton was hit with a five-place grid penalty. Hamilton, who is 14 points behind Ferrari's championship leader Sebastian Vettel after eight races, qualified third fastest but will start in eighth place due to the automatic drop resulting from an unscheduled gearbox change.Vettel will share the front row with Bottas, with Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull's Australian Daniel Riccardo on the second row.

British GP 2017 Qualifying : Lewis Hamilton storms to pole position . Lewis Hamilton earned a standing ovation from his adoring Silverstone crowd after storming to a dominant pole position at the British GP .

Lewis Hamilton earned a standing ovation from his adoring Silverstone crowd after storming to a dominant pole position at the British GP . Team-mate Jolyon Palmer was 11th but nearly a second slower. British GP Qualifying Timesheet. Driver.

The Englishman, already on provisional pole after the opening Q3 runs, was mighty through the fast middle sector at Silverstone and improved by over half a second on his final lap.

"He owned pole position today," accepted Sebastian Vettel with the margin between pole and the second-fastest car the biggest of the year so far.

Vettel's Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari will line up alongside Hamilton on the front row after the Finn narrowly out-qualified the world championship leader.

Lewis rejects Seb handshake for TV

Watch the moment Lewis Hamilton rejected an invitation to make a public show of reconciliation with title rival Sebastian Vettel after qualifying in Austria. Just days after they were placed in front of the world's media in a heated press conference dominated by questions regarding their dramatic double Azerbaijan shunt, Vettel and Hamilton were next to each other again for the post-qualifying interviews.And though the multi world champions shook hands immediately after Saturday's shootout off-camera, Hamilton snubbed an invitation to make a public handshake with Vettel when asked by Sky Italia's Davide Valsecchi.

British GP 2017 Qualifying : Lewis Hamilton storms to pole position 9mth. British Grand Prix qualifying F1 LIVE: Lewis Hamilton targets pole 9mth.

British grand prix qualifying . Pole position shoot-out. 1 Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1:26.600. 2 Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:27.147. British GP 2017 Qualifying : Lewis Hamilton storms to pole position 9mth.

"We have a good car and for the race we can challenge them," said Raikkonen.

Hamilton will be exposed to the twin threat from the Ferrari as Valtteri Bottas, fastest in Friday practice, will have to start from a lowly ninth due to a five-place grid penalty.

It means, even if Hamilton makes a clean start, Ferrari can try to undercut the Mercedes with one of their drivers and attempt an overcut with the other.

Like Hamilton in Austria a week ago, Bottas will begin the race on the slower soft tyres and made a mistake on his final flying lap.

Stoffel Vandoorne out-qualified McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso - certain, in any case to be last due to a series of engine-related grid penalties - for the first time this season but the Spaniard did at least claim the distinction of topping the timesheets in Q1 after being the only driver to switch to slick tyres as the circuit began to dry.

An engine problem meant Daniel Ricciardo was unable to progress from Q1 and will join Alonso on the back row on Sunday.

Silverstone's F1 future in doubt after break clause activated

Silverstone could stage its last British Grand Prix in 2019 if a new agreement cannot be reached with Formula One's owners.The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) in 2009 agreed a 17-year deal with F1 to continue hosting the race at Silverstone, which has staged every British GP since 1987.

British GP 2017 Qualifying : Lewis Hamilton storms to pole position . Lewis Hamilton earned a standing ovation from his adoring Silverstone crowd after storming to a dominant pole position at the British GP .

Mercedes´ British driver Lewis Hamilton is congratulated by teammates after winning the pole position during the qualifying session at the Silverstone motor racing circuit in Silverstone, central England on July 15, 2017 - AFP.

Renault's Nico Hulkenberg produced the standout performance of the Qualifying hour by muscling his Renault to sixth. Team-mate Jolyon Palmer was eleventh but nearly a second slower.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF QUALIFYING): Majestic lap from HAM #Quali#BritishGP

Formula 1 2017: Starting grid, lineup for British Grand Prix at Silverstone .
Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images Lewis Hamilton has pole for the British Grand Prix, and he’ll need it to keep up in the Drivers Championship. Ferrari’s Vettel qualified in third for Sunday’s race, behind teammate Kimi Raikkonen and the Mercedes of Hamilton. Valtterri Bottas, Hamilton’s partner, had a shot at a top spot but incurred a five-place grid penalty due to a premature gearbox change.